


On Ghouls & Growing Up

by Masterofkarate



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Child Neglect, I totally forgot to tag that as a warning. But there's a brief ment, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, childhood charmac, q-slur, these boys are always sneaking into each other's rooms in my fics bc it's valid and true!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 21:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterofkarate/pseuds/Masterofkarate
Summary: The pesky ghouls at Charlie's house are keeping him up, so he snuck over to Mac's house because Mac's house doesn't have ghouls and it has Mac, both of which help him fall asleep.(they're like 13 and they're very soft and gentle and dealing with a lot)





	On Ghouls & Growing Up

**Author's Note:**

> yeah i have like 50 open ended fics. yeah i haven't written a fic in like forever. what abt it?

Charlie climbed up the fire escape of Mac’s next door neighbor’s house and then pulled himself onto the slanted, shingled rooftops very carefully. The only thing he ever learned to do quietly was sneak into Mac’s room. He walked at a slanted angle, not daring to put his feet on the gutter after the time he felt it buckle beneath him a few months ago. He held one hand on either side to keep his balance and walked slowly until he approached Mac’s window. When he got there, he crouched down beside the window and tapped his fingers on the glass, his pinky to his forefinger and then back again in a rhythmic pattern.

He pulled his hand back to himself and waited patiently. He was about to tap again when the window opened, Mac standing behind it. His hair was messy, sticking straight up, and he was wearing a tanktop and pajama pants that were rolled halfway up his calves. What stuck out most, however, was how completely annoyed Mac looked. His eyes always told all, and right now they told that he’d been woken up by Charlie. Mac was like his mom, he did not like getting woken up.

“What is it, dude?” Mac said, stepping away from the window so that Charlie could step in.

“Hey man, I was just in the neighborhood, decided to stop by,” Charlie answered as he swung his feet in over the windowsill, sliding into the room with familiarity.

“It’s the middle of the night, you weren’t just in the neighborhood,” Mac said as he immediately pushed his covers back, getting back into bed.

“Yuh-huh, we live in the same neighborhood, dummie,” Charlie said with a grin as he stepped out of his shoes, climbing into Mac’s bed without having to be welcomed.

“You’re such a prick, you know that?” Mac said, shifting away from Charlie slightly. Charlie had noticed that Mac didn’t touch him as much anymore when they shared a bed, a few months ago he told Charlie he had to stop coming by in the middle of the night so often. Charlie had done a pretty good job, though, he hadn’t come by even one time this whole week! 

“And you’re an asshole,” Charlie said with a laugh, he turned to his side and threw an arm over Mac’s waist, resting his head on his friend’s chest.

“For real though, man, why’re you here? It’s real late,” Mac said. Charlie felt Mac’s hand raise and then fall back to the bed before settling on Charlie’s back.

“I don’t know,” Charlie said, his voice getting higher pitched as he spoke. Which was always very fucking embarrassing because his voice was already high pitched and it was the only thing that ever really made him self conscious. “I was like just in bed and I could hear all the ghouls in my house crawling around and I was trying to ignore them and go to sleep, but I couldn’t, they were so loud! So then I went to search for them, but they’re super sneaky and I couldn’t find any and I was getting all mad ‘cause I wanted to go to sleep but the ghouls wouldn’t let me, so I thought I’d come here ‘cause your house doesn’t have a lot of ghouls.”

“Ghouls,” Mac sighed, rolling his eyes. “It’s always ghouls with you, isn’t it? Charlie, you’ve got to grow up, we’re not little kids anymore.”

“Dude, I am grown up!” Charlie huffed indignantly, sounding very much not grown up. “I know I’m small, but I’m older than you, dude. Just ‘cause you’re bad at ghoul hunting doesn’t mean I’m a kid.”

“You being older than me doesn’t mean shit,” Mac said with a laugh. “Dude I’m like five million times stronger than you, I’m way more badass, and I don’t believe in little kid shit. And plus, when I can’t sleep, I don’t come crawling to your bed.”

“Me coming over here isn’t ‘cause I’m a kid, Mac, I like being over here.”

“Yeah, well I like to sleep alone,” Mac’s words came out like a frustrated huff, but his voice was still the same quiet voice you use when you’re in bed with someone.

“You used to come my place after your dad went to jail,” Charlie argued. He got his pitch back to normal, but he also sounded more agitated. 

“Yeah, Charlie, ‘cause my life sucked and your mom’s house had food.”

“Well my life sucks and your house has you.”

“I know, man, but like, this isn’t gonna be cool next year. Next year we’re gonna be in high school and we’re gonna be able to make new friends and you’re not gonna be dirt grub anymore, and people are finally gonna call me Mac, how’s it gonna be when they hear we sleep in the same bed a lot of times? Nobody’s gonna wanna be friends with us anymore, it’s not badass to be sleeping together like some queers.” Mac’s voice rose, there was genuine frustration in his voice now, but he didn’t stop holding Charlie. To the contrary, his fingers started tracing patterns against Charlie’s spine.

“We’re not queers, Mac, I just… I like sleeping with you,” Charlie whispered, all frustration dropping.

“Sounds pretty queer,” Mac scoffed.

“Whatever,” Charlie huffed, sitting up abruptly. “Fine. I get it. I’ll go home. Don’t worry about me being kept all night by the shitty ghouls in my house, you sleep happy in your bed all by yourself, just like you like it!”

“Wait,” Mac said, sitting up, reaching out towards Charlie, who was already shoving his feet back into his shoes. “Charlie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. You can sleep here, really. I’m sorry.”

“Why should I sleep here, Mac, huh? Just so you can call me a queer and tell me how much you hate when I come over? If you hate it so much, I’ll just go home.”

“Charlie,” Mac huffed in a defeated whine. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, I promise. I was just tired and frustrated.”

“You’re frustrated all the time,” Charlie grumbled as he backed towards the window, but his voice was softer and his steps were slow.

“Listen, man, I’m sorry. I was being a dick. Just get back over here and we can both go to sleep.”

Charlie glanced over his shoulder towards the window then back ant Mac before smiling slightly. “You were being a dick, huh?”

“I already said it once. Get the hell over here,” Mac said with a smile, pushing the blanket down slightly to invite Charlie back into bed.

Charlie grinned and pushed his shoes back off before jogging to the bed, jumping in with a laugh. Mac rolled his eyes and put his arm around Charlie as the two settled into the same position as before.

“I’m sorry for being a dick, I love you buddy.”

“Love you too, Mac,” Charlie answered with a yawn.


End file.
